wh5 = who, what, where, when and why. The five basic questions that are the structure of any story. Explored in "Who says what, where, when and and Why: Context in Conversation." An introduction to Sociolinguistics through Conversation Analysis. wh5 is the blogsite of the book published 2008 by Nanundo-Phoenix, Tokyo.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Into the Void: The U.S. Election Outcome

George
and Bill commiserate...

.

George: The hand-wringing,
the teeth-gnashing, the metaphors of excess keep bubbling out. What went wrong?

Bill: In the middle of the
electoral map. East coast, educated. West Coast educated. That gigantic midriff
is composed of people who don’t understand responsible politics conducted by
qualified people. He rode a wave of anger into the White House. Now we have the
country being steered by a petulant wheelman with no navigational experience.

.

George: It makes you wonder
about the democratic process. Perhaps there should be a test people have to
pass before they are registered as qualified to vote. Do they read policy? Or
only get it from TV reality shows?

.

Bill: The Romans only allowed
Patricians to vote.

.

George: Hardly a good example
when you have the anger of the hoi-polloi leveled against the elites.

__________

Voice-over

People everywhere say they are
shocked by the outcome of the U.S. election. Markets collapse. People
interviewed on the street in Japan say they are scared about future US-Japan
relations. Prime Minister Abe puts it in diplomatic speech: he “hopes’ he can
work with Trump on “diplomatic” issues.

When a company needs a new
manager, or a school needs a new professor, others who know the field review
applications and interview the candidate. It may not be quite democratic, but
it can be an informed choice for the good of all. Maybe we don’t understand
enough about America. Through movies, it has seemed familiar, but really, the
election result shows middle America is as extreme as a jihadist state.